Minorities, You Have A Proud History

 Contributions by Africans and African-Americans

The Axum Empire lasted from the years 100 to 940 A.D. This nation was known for its significant military power as well as being a vibrant trading nation. It was located in what are currently the countries of Eritrea and northern Ethiopia. At the apex of the Axum Empire the nation was recognized and listed as one of the only four superior international superpowers of its day. It was named alongside the other great nations of Persia, Rome and China. This nation dominated northern Ethiopia, Eritrea, northern Sudan, southern Egypt, Djibouti, Western Yemen, and southern Saudi Arabia. Its trading influence could be felt in countries such as China and India.

The Kingdom of Ghana conquered West Africa from the years 750 to 1078 A.D. The nation was known among North Africans as the “Land of Gold". Many believed that it practiced and produced sophisticated techniques of administration and taxation as well as large armies. They also believed that the nation maintained a monopoly on its famously well guarded gold mines.

One Arab writer, named Al-Hamdani, credited this great nation with possessing the wealthiest gold mines on the planet.  

When the Ghanian Kingdom fell the Mali Empire came to take its place and took control of West Africa. The nation reached its apex in the 1350s.

The Mali Empire was founded by King Sundiata Keita who enabled the nation to be able to set a precedent for becoming famous for the wealth of its rulers. A noteworthy example of this is Mansa, meaning King, Musa. Trade was able to be tripled during his reign. He also expanded the nation of Mali allowing it to become a larger empire than any in Europe during that time period. One of the numerous significant cities in Mali was named Timbuktu which became one of the most well known cultural centers of learning in the continent of Africa as well as the known the world. This metropolitan city was home to expansive libraries and Islamic universities. Timbuktu was a famous place of meeting for renowned poets, scholars and artists from Africa and the Middle East. The Kingdom of Mali formulated a semi-democratic government which created one of the world’s most ancient known constitutions titled The Kurukan Fuga.

African-Americans built the railroads for the South up until the Civil War and during it. They were charged with hauling lumber, building bridges, casting iron, producing stone, etc. all for transporting people, weapons, and goods to be used in war among other things.

African-Americans also built parts of the White House after an attempt at recruitment from Europe failed miserably. They queried and cut the stone in order to make it ready for construction. They were among many other ethnic groups involved in constructing the White House such as the Irish and Scottish masons and dressers as well as other American white laborer.

African-American physician, Dr. Charles Drew, created a process where blood plasma could be stored in "blood banks."

African-American neurosurgeon, Ben Carson, separated conjoined twins successfully for the 1st time in history.

According to the National Institute of Health, Dr. Patricia Bath discovered as well as invented a new device and technique for the process of cataract surgery known as laserphaco. Contributions from Arabs

In about the year 800 A.D. a Muslim scientist ,named Jabir ibn Hayyan, invented the process of distillation. He was also the creator of modern chemistry who discovered sulphuric and nitric acid.

500 years prior to Galileo, Muslim scholars had already come to the conclusion that the earth was formed in the shape of a sphere. The Muslim astronomer, Ibn Hazm, stated that the proof "is that the Sun is always vertical to a particular spot on Earth".

In the 10th century the Muslim surgeon al-Zahrawi invented the medical instruments that we are so familiar with today. They include the scalpel, bone saw, forceps, and fine scissors used for eye surgery. He was the one who realized that catgut, which was created for internal stitches, dissolved naturally. He also observed that it could potentially be used to produce medicine capsules. Asians

Royal Astronomer of the late Han Dynasty, Chang Heng, developed the first seismograph which consisted of dragons with balls in their mouths facing in different directions. If a tremor was felt by one of the dragons the ball would drop into one of the nine frogs below each of them.

Smallpox inoculation was introduced in to the world by a Daoist monk in China in the years after Prime Minister Wang Dan's son died of the disease. The technique was finally brought to Europe in the 1800's by Doctor Louis Pasteur. Native Americans

South American Natives created syringes from sharpened hollow bird bones attached to bladders in order to inject wounds with the necessary medication.

Native Americans had numerous forms of pest control. These included the Paiute and Shoshone tribes of the Great Basin washing their hair in hot infusion produced from sweet root and the Inca cotton farmers using lemon verbena by burning it in order to use as pesticide.

Native people were also known to have extracted oil and petroleum more than 400 years before Edwin L. Drake for protective lotion and ceremonial fires. These are among the many contributions produced by different ethnic groups around the world. If anyone ever has questions about the significant contributions of other people groups besides Europeans tell them about these fine and outstanding accomplishments to human civilization. Resources: http://atlantablackstar.com/2013/12/05/7-midieval-african-kingdoms/4/ http://www.biography.com/people/charles-drew-9279094#synopsis http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/opinionator/2012/02/10/been-workin-on-the-railroad/?referer= https://www.whitehousehistory.org/questions/did-slaves-build-the-white-house https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-story-of-the-surgery-that-made-ben-carson-famous--and-its-complicated-aftermath/2015/11/13/15b5f900-88c1-11e5-be39-0034bb576eee_story.html https://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/physicians/biography_26.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/how-islamic-inventors-changed-the-world-6106905.html http://humansarefree.com/2014/11/22-chinese-inventions-that-changed-world.html?m=0 http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/06/29/10-native-inventions-and-innovations-changed-world-15554